What the heck you guys?!

This was a strange reading to say the least. It's very odd that the King would just allow the maidens of the court be tested in the area of their sexual purity. The whole thing was an uncomfortable read to say the least, but there's one bigger question that I have: Why did Arthur take pleasure in the public humiliation of the ladies in his court? Would this not be an embarrassing thing for him?

It was also strange that the story ended the way it did. "Now the Saga of the Mantle ends here; may you live happily for many years to come. Amen." Like what is this?! We jumped from Elven magic to the Bible and it's so weird.

Who wants frozen food

"Then the food was ready for the king and all his court. But it was King Arthur's custom not to go to table or to be truly content on any day until he had first received news about some event or other that had happened near or far from and from which he might derive enjoyment and pleasure" (Pg 226)

"Thereupon the young man took leave of the king. by no means did he want to stay there any longer and eat the food" (Pg 235)

Who does that?

I thought the concept of this story was interesting, not necessarily good but interesting. There was a couple of similarities between the descriptions of King Author and his court from this story to the first one we read. His court was described as lavish and filled with expensive clothes, weapons and horses. King Arthur himself was described as the most noble, kind, wise, valiant and merciful. His queen was described as the most generous beautiful lady who lives. Another similarity I found interesting was that again the men and women were separated, with the queen allowing the maidens to stay in her chambers, implying that King Arther and the men stayed somewhere else. This is again reinforced on page 228, the stranger approaches the king while they are waiting for dinner. Of course due to the nature of the favor the woman need to be summoned, “The king now sent sir Valve. And Kay the steward and Meon the page for the queen,” (Kalinke 228)  implying that until the dinner started the men and women were again kept separate. I still think that the concept of this story is a little weird. This man allegedly went to multiple courts, had thousands of women try on this mantle that reveals how faithful and true they are. I mean honestly, who does that?

WTH, Hero?

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  I have so many issues with The Saga of the Mantle that it is difficult to decide where I should begin.

I suppose the most egregious point is the double standard presented, since only the women are subjected to this "test", yet the question "if they're sleeping around, who with?" is never asked (we know, of course, that Guinevere has been with Lancelot), and it is almost certain that those shaming their wives for infidelity wouldn't think twice about sleeping with another woman, given the opportunity. The second and last point I want to address here is why would anyone in their right mind trust an artifact of explicitly fae origin? Then never cause anything but trouble.

Rags to Riches

I think the story could have had a different overall theme by changing the ending in a small way.  The story I am telling starts when Arthur calls in all of the women to try on the mantle.

“Now every single lady shall try on the mantle.”

All the fairest and most beautiful women in the world try on the mantle, but it does not fit well on any of them.  One after another the men are confident that their beloved will be the first to be true and faithful to him, but one after the other, each woman and man is ashamed of the result.

Behind the scenes while everyone was distracted by all the women trying on the mantle, a rather poor and unattractive woman wanders into the King’s court after hearing all the commotion from outside.

After all of the fair maidens, dressed in the queens most elegant clothing, fail to fit the mantle, Arthur realizes that there is still one woman left to try on the mantle.

“Excuse me miss, all the women have tried on the mantle so you will too.”

Many of the men object to this because she is not a fair maiden and think she does not deserve to wear the mantle.  However, Arthur brushes their wishes aside and she puts on the mantle.

The mantle fits perfectly as the woman has always been truly faithful to her lovers.  Suddenly the men no longer worry about her looks and are very attracted that they have finally found a woman who is loyal.  They all wish for her to be their own beloved knowing that they will not have to worry about her being unfaithful.

The Modern Mantle Saga

If the Saga happened today, it would probably be a Miss America pageant:

The final five contestants stand in a line on the stage. Arthur, the night’s host, takes center stage with a big smile. “We have one question left to ask you, ladies, then we will decide who is our next Miss America.”

The audience applauds as the ladies grin and wave in nervous excitement.

“Contestant number one, please step forward.”

She does and the spotlight follows her to the standing mic.

Arthur takes the question card from his blazer pocket, does a double take at the card, and tries to keep a cheerful tone as he reads, “The final question for contestant number one is… um… ‘how many men have you slept with?’”

The audience gasps. The contestant’s smile falters. She gives a nervous laugh and says, “I’m not sure I’m comfortable answering that question, Arthur.”

“You know what, you’re right. Let’s ask our judges.”

Judges Meon, Kay, and Valven put their heads together and discuss for a moment. “Nope, we want to know the answer to this question,” says Kay. “We want to make sure that our new Miss America is not a disgrace to her beloved.”

“Well, okay then,” says Arthur. “Contestant, do you have an answer?”

The contestant smiles and leans toward the mic, “None but my beloved Paternas.”

In an instant, the spotlight turns red.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It seems you’ve lied,” says Arthur. “Next contestant?”

The remaining contestants try other answers to please the judges, but each one gets a red spotlight. The audience murmurs in disappointment. Kay, especially, is disapproving of the contestants.

“It would appear that none of our contestants can tell the truth about this matter,” says Arthur. “Therefore, we will have to search for a new Miss America. Tune in next week to find out who it is!”

Unfaithful Women!!!

After reading The Saga of the Mantle, one of the things that stuck out to me was that women cheating or being unfaithful was basically the main part of the story. The song that I picked today is the opposite of what happened in the story, but it is immediately what my mind jumped to. So, while listening to the song pretending that men singing are the "fair" maidens of the kingdom.